closing cards

Your FICO credit score is one of the major factors a lender will consider when determining whether or not to approve you for credit. There are many things that go into your FICO score, which means that there are things that you can do to improve it. Careful attention to your FICO score can help[…]

Not everyone uses their credit card on a regular basis. But imagine the shock if you need to use your credit card and find that it has been canceled by a credit grantor. You hear horror stories of people vacationing overseas and discovering this problem, then spending hours trying to fix it. Unfortunately, the credit[…]

Earning miles and points from your credit card is fun—especially when the annual fee is waived for the first year. Once that anniversary comes around, however, you may be required to pay an annual fee—which might not be what you planned. Since you have earned tons of points, you don’t want to simply cancel the[…]

If you have a number of credit cards with balances on them, you might feel overwhelmed by having a large number of monthly payments or a total balance that is higher than you are comfortable with. If you have finally decided that it is time to take action and pay off some of this debt,[…]

We’ve all heard the importance of paying close attention to our credit scores. Many of the credit card companies are beginning to catch on to the importance of having consumers keep it in control, and helping them track it—whether on a monthly statement, like Discover, or through the online account, like Chase and US Bank.[…]

For some, just getting a credit card in the first place is a huge accomplishment. For others, they seem to accumulate tons of cards, many of which they don’t need or don’t even use. How do you decide which ones to cancel? And how can you do it without affecting your credit score in a[…]

Different credit cards have different policies when it comes to whether or not you can retain your points or miles when you cancel the card. For example, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi Thank You points are lost when you cancel the credit card associated with the account. The same goes for American Express Membership rewards.[…]

One of the great things that Chase has to offer with their rewards credit cards is the ability to combine points from their different Ultimate Rewards points earning cards, including personal cards and business cards, so that you can redeem them for bigger rewards. But, it is important to realize some of the fine print![…]

You’ve carefully accumulated a bunch of points in your credit card rewards account, now you are wondering how to redeem them. There are definitely good and bad ways to do this, and certain ways to redeem them that will get you much more value than others. Let’s go over a few of the common options—the[…]

When was the last time you took a look at your free credit report? Were you surprised to see how many credit cards you had open in your name? How often have you been lured at the cash register to sign up for a store credit card to save 10-15% on the spot? All of[…]